UC Food Blog

Signed, sealed and soon to be delivered: University of California President Mark Yudof’s own blend of olive oil.

UC Davis already has its own popular olive oil, sold in the campus bookstore and online, with customers including Yudof. The self-supporting UC Davis Olive Center – the only academic center of its kind in North America – is looking to branch out with the UC-wide President’s Blend.

A day before Yudof began his tour of high schools to promote access to a UC education, he visited the UC Davis Olive Center on Sept. 30 to give his official seal of approval to the President’s Blend olive oil.

Accompanied by UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi and leaders of the campus’ Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, Yudof chose from five blends made with olives grown in California. His favorite? A blend 25 percent Frantoio (Italian) olives and the rest Arbequina (Spanish) olives, the most commonly planted olive in California. Nutty? Yes. Pungent? Check. Bitter? No. Yudof also chose a label design with an image of olives, the UC seal in the middle and the words “President’s Blend.”

“I’m really humbled,” said Yudof, who plans to buy bottles of his blend to send to relatives.

The President’s Blend is expected to be available by the winter holidays. The plan is to sell it at all UC campus bookstores in quarter-liter bottles for $12 apiece.

“We’re hoping we can get out to the other campuses and expose them to really good olive oil,” said Dan Flynn, executive director of the UC Davis Olive Center.

In July, the Olive Center garnered international attention with its study that found many imported olive oils sold in California are not “extra virgin” as their premium labels claim they are. The center is doing a second study to confirm the results, UC Davis professor and sensory scientist Jean-Xavier Guinard said.

The center, part of the Robert Mondavi Institute, collaborates across campus and among producers and the community to promote olive and olive oil research and education. Before testing the olive oil blends, Yudof visited a mobile olive mill, enclosed in a custom-built 38-foot trailer. Olive to Bottle owner Thom Curry brought it for the center’s sold-out course for olive oil producers. “It’s basically like making fruit juice,” Curry said. “The fresher, the better with olive oil.”

In many of California's coastal areas, the climate is ideal for growing crisp but buttery, high calorie yet healthful macadamia nuts.

Macadamia nuts, native of Australia, have the highest amount of beneficial monounsaturated fats of any known nut. They also contain protein, potassium and minerals. A quarter cup serving is about 240 calories; for comparison, a quarter cup of almonds is about 100 calories less. Macadamia's unique texture and delicate flavor complement salads, baked goods and main dishes. The nut's oil has a long shelf life and may be used in salad dressing, for frying and as an ingredient in cosmetics.

UC Cooperative Extension horticulture advisor Gary Bender said macadamias make beautiful backyard trees, planted in the landscape or in large pots or tubs. They prefer fertile, well-drained soils and temperatures that range year-round from the 50s to the mid 70s, although established trees can withstand light frosts.

In their natural rain forest habitat, macadamia trees can grow to 60 feet in height. In California backyards, they will rarely exceed 20 to 30 feet, he said.

Gardeners who plant macadamia trees will have to be patient. Seed to tree takes 5 to 7 years; full production may take as long as 10 years. Once established, however, macadamia trees may continue bearing for over 100 years.

Although commercial macadamia production levels in California pale compared to Hawaii, where farmers harvest 54 million pounds of the nuts a year, macadamias have been grown in the Golden State continuously since 1879. The largest mainland industry is in San Diego County, where the ag commissioner reported growers harvested 192 tons of macadamia nuts from 128 acres of macadamia plantations in 2006, a crop worth $342,336.

UC Cooperative Extension in San Diego County and the California Macadamia Society will sponsor a field day for current and aspiring macadamia growers from 8:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at the farm of Garry and Patricia Prather, 6686 Via de la Reina, Bonsall, Calif. Registration is $20. At the field day, Bender will explain irrigation scheduling for macadamias. UC Integrated Pest Management advisor Cheryl Wilen will discuss chemical and organic weed control in macadamia production.

Mention that something is free and useful, and most of us will stop to take a look. And for good reason — the University of California has a number of websites that offer free information related to food.

Take your time to peruse the sites listed below. There is some fascinating and very handy information to be had. Many of these sites also offer terrific publications at nominal prices, but this blog lists only those that are free . . . and we all love a bargain! Many more publications and programs are available than those listed below.

After looking at these lists, you never know when you’ll be inspired to pickle some olives or field dress a deer. As for me, my latest food craze is cheese-making. Two weeks ago I made goat cheese (chèvre, to be sure), and last weekend I made camembert and blue cheeses. Now I just have to be patient for two months while they ripen . . .

A recently published study looking at the apprenticeship’s last 20 years found that a large percentage of its alumni are still involved in growing and marketing organic food and teaching others how to do so.

“It’s like an incubator,” said lead study author Jan Perez, research specialist with the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. “It’s a place for people to really experiment and live their values and be in a supportive community.”

The six-month residential apprenticeship program, which the center runs in conjunction with UC Santa Cruz Extension, features hands-on training in gardens, greenhouses, orchards and fields. The program combines theoretical and practical instruction, with students not only studying in the classroom but also taking fields trips and marketing organic produce on campus.

Of 299 alumni surveyed, more than 80 percent have done some type of farming or gardening work since graduating, with 65 percent still doing this work. Forty-two percent said they created jobs that did not previously exist and 35 percent are working in an educational area, according to the study in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.

For example, two apprentice alumni started Pie Ranch, a working Peninsula farm that educates high school students from San Francisco to Santa Cruz about sustainable agriculture. The farm, which grows ingredients for pies on its pie-shaped ranch, even has its own apprenticeship program.

“They’re really spreading what they’ve learned,” Perez said.

Meanwhile, interest continues to spread in the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture. Last year, applications rose to 187 for more than 30 slots. This year’s application period closed Thursday (Sept. 30).

The apprenticeship program takes place at UC Santa Cruz's farm and Chadwick Garden